self that they sought the unity and the
prosperity they had not found at home. Many looked to Washington, some
for unrestricted trade, a few for political union. Others looked to
London, hoping for a revival of the old imperial tariff preferences or
for some closer political union which would bring commercial advantages
in its train.

The decade from 1885 to 1895 stands out in the record of the relations
of the English-speaking peoples as a time of constant friction, of petty
pin pricks, of bluster and retaliation. The United States was not in
a neighborly mood. The memories of 1776, of 1812, and of 1861 had
been kept green by exuberant comment in school textbooks and by
"spread-eagle" oratory. The absence of any other rivalry concentrated
American opposition on Great Britain, and isolation from Old World
interests encouraged a provincial lack of responsibility. The sins of
England in Ireland had been kept to the fore by the agitation of Parnell
and Davitt and Dillon; and the failure of Home Rule measures, twice in
this decade, stirred Irish-American antagonism. The accession to power
of Lord Salisbury, reputed to hold the United States in contempt, and
later the foolish indiscretion of Sir Lionel Sackville-West, British
Ambassador at Washington, in intervening in a guileless way in the
presidential election of 1888, did as much to nourish ill-will in the
United States as the dominance of Blaine and other politicians who
cultivated the gentle art of twisting the tail of the British lion.

Protection, with the attitude of economic warfare which it involved
and bred, was then at its height. Much of this hostility was directed
against Canada, as the nearest British territory. The Dominion, on
its part, while persistently seeking closer trade relations, sometimes
sought this end in unwise ways. Many good people in Canada were
still fighting the War of 1812. The desire to use the inshore fishery
privileges as a lever to force tariff reductions led to a rigid and
literal enforcement of Canadian rights and claims which provoked
widespread anger in New England. The policy of discrimination in canal
tolls in favor of Canadian as against United States ports was none the
less irritating because it was a retort in kind. And when United States
customs officials levied a tax on the tin cans containing fish free
by treaty, Canadian officials had retaliated by taxing the baskets
containing duty-free peaches.

The most important spec